SRA Stories: Kira Lewis

Kira Lewis was in 7th grade when her brothers,  Brennan and Nathan, joined the crew team at Sammamish Rowing Association (SRA). She joined SRA a year after her brothers began rowing and decided to be a coxswain on the men’s team. “I guess I grew up chasing them in a lot of ways, and for the most part they were very supportive,” Lewis said about her brothers. “They could be pretty ruthless though when I couldn’t keep up. I think pretty much every time one of them picked up a new sport, I was there to chase them. The three of us skied, raced our bikes, played soccer, ran track, and of course rowed at Sammamish. I started coxing on the men’s team the year after they joined.”

Kira Lewis in her SRA unisuit

Lewis being tossed in the water after a successful race

Lewis stayed with SRA for five years as a men’s team coxswain and has been coxing at the University of Washington on the men’s team for two years now after being recruited. While she is enjoying her time at the University of Washington, both coxing and pursuing a double major in psychology and communication, she did say that Sammamish was a second home to her during her time here. “Coxing there for five years means I went through a full turn over of athletes through the program and watched the majority of the staff turnover as well,” she said. 

“A lot of things changed while I was there,” she added. “Definitely some material things like a brand new boathouse, the constant excitement over new boats and oars, and even smaller things like speed coaches, all made possible by the donations of alumni and supporters. I definitely changed a lot as a person while I was at Sammamish too though. You learn some pretty tough lessons through any sport. Stuff like when to keep your head down and do what your coach tells you to do and when to speak up and say what’s on your mind. Lessons like that can be so hard to figure out as is. It can be pretty intense to try to make those decisions. Learning those kinds of lessons gave me so much confidence in myself, and as hard as it was to deal with the fallout of my bad decisions sometimes, I wouldn’t trade it for the person I became and the lessons I learned through the sport.”

Lewis with her Washington boys- some of which are also SRA alumni

When it came to her favorite memory at Sammamish, Lewis struggled to pick just one. She did mention the boys she got to work with her Sophomore year of high school however. “I coxed this great race at the Tail of The Lake Regatta,” she said. “I started picking up some momentum on the team as I was improving. Next thing you know it’s spring and I’m in the lightweight 8. That group of guys was unprecedentedly fun to work with.” Kira believed their success came from their ability to learn and grow together. She added, “I think it was a really young group and all of us were a little unsure of how to make a boat actually go fast. So we kept joking about going fast which morphed into a super positive attitude. Without big egos getting in the way we could make a lot of the changes Dennis asked us to make and we kinda figured out how to make our boat move." ​

During high school, Lewis also maintained competitiveness on the slopes. She ski raced throughout her high school career only missing a few rowing practices in winter to travel and compete with her ski team. The summer before she started college she picked cycling back up. On just about every Friday night during the summer she would race fixed gear bikes down at the Marymoor Velodrome. “Velo racing is a little like nascar on bikes with no breaks,” she said. “You’re all in a big oval and there’s lots of different types of races, usually you’ll do three events per night and overall awards will go out based on your combined results in the three races.”

A shot of Lewis ski racing

This summer Lewis was actually able to race in a Grand Prix that the Marymoor Velodrome hosted. She was able to race alongside incredible athletes in the elite women’s pack. “It was the biggest pack of riders I’ve ever raced with which was a little intimidating, not to mention there were world champions from places like Australia, Canada, and the U.S. Those girls are so fast and so strong it was an amazing experience to share my home track with them.”

Lewis in the Velodrome competing

Lewis is able to keep a great balance in her life even when participating in a sport that demands so much of your time in emotional and physical ways. While she is taking a break from rowing this summer, she plans to return to the UW team in the fall. She said, “I’ve always liked my summers off to keep a healthy mental balance and to pursue other activities like bike racing and this summer trying to ski a water ski course.”

Rowing is known to be a demanding sport. Often times those who pursue it at the collegiate level have little time for much else besides rowing and school work. Lewis certainly has felt that pressure, but has found ways to bring balance back to her life through thoughtful time budgeting during her breaks. She also is strong in maintaining an open mind. Lewis said, “Right now I don’t really know what the future holds for me in rowing. I’m planning on starting up again in fall at UW, but I’m going in with a pretty open mind. That’s the mindset I brought in last fall and I had an awesome year so I think that’s what’s going to work best for me. Whatever I wind up doing I know I’m going to have a good time doing it!”

Kira Lewis made an unforgettable impression on the SRA team during her time here and is continuing to do so on her collegiate team and throughout her other involvements. We are happy to follow her journey outside the Hod Fowler Boathouse and can’t wait to see what she does or tries next. She is not shy when it comes to trying new things. To finish, Lewis told us about the time she tried eating a spider for the first time. Lewis mentioned, “once a girl on the women’s team at Sammamish paid me $50.43 to eat a spider. It’s now become a somewhat regular thing at my house to use in a bet or a game. I’ve made close to $100 just by eating spiders.”

Lewis coxing the University of Washington men's crew

Keep trying new things, Kira! Be sure to keep the SRA community updated on all that you achieve from spider eating, rowing, and beyond!